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Comments from various issues of ASBMB Today

“In need of a new narrative,” Natasha C. Brooks, May 2013Thank you, Dr. Brooks. I happened upon the ASBMB website while preparing to discuss my story this Sunday at a breast cancer event. Because I am a pharmacist, they wanted to touch on (triple-negative breast cancer) and African-Americans and treatments. Like my mother in 2008, I was diagnosed in 2010 with triple-negative breast cancer. As I researched treatments, I quickly stopped. My mother passed in 2012, and, according to articles I have read, I am soon to follow. My doctors’ goals were simple: keep me cancer-free long enough until a treatment for TNBC is developed. I would welcome hearing from researchers at breast cancer events discussing the progress they are making. I have no plans to dig my own ditch. Yes, Black Girls Do Run! Look out, for we do CrossFit soon!Nancie Richberg

“With a lot of help from my friends,” Christine Guthrie, May 2013Many thanks to Dr. Guthrie for this honest and courageous article. It is very nice, as she discovered, to hear that others in the field face these challenges that so many of us face and will face and that they can still be successful in the midst of that. I appreciate hearing a very honest and open account of challenges that can arise during one’s career (also kudos to this entire article series). Also great to hear there is a supportive community out there.Angela Schlegel, ASBMB undergraduate honor society, University of Arizona

“The quiet creep of Alzheimer’s disease,” Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay, April 2013A paper published in 2011 indicates that taking two 220 mg naproxen tablets every day after age 70 substantially diminishes the development of Alzheimer’s disease, but only in asymptomatic individuals after two to three years on this regimen. By contrast, NSAIDs including naproxen had an adverse effect on patients with signs of AD pathogenesis, including those at the very early stages of cognitive impairment. Unfortunately, this trial (ADAPT) was not continued as long as it should have been because of health concerns about the cardiotoxic effects of one of the NSAIDs undergoing testing (celecoxib, Celebrex). However, clearly anyone with a family history of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease or over the age of 60 should definitely consider taking daily naproxen as a preventive measure as long as no cognitive defects are already apparent, and they have the consent of their physician. Naproxen has a good overall safety profile and is available over the counter in the United States (Aleve). However, like all NSAIDs that block cyclooxygenase I (COX-1), there are known side effects, and it might not be possible for some individuals to tolerate this regimen.

Conflicts of interest: None. I do not work for any company that sells naproxen, nor do I own stock or give lectures for such companies. In summary, I do not derive any benefit whatsoever from the sale of naproxen. I am only concerned about those who are affected by this awful disease.

Clarification

We reported in the May issue that Hudson Freeze was elected the next vice president of science policy for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology and said that his new term would begin July 1. His term as VP-elect for science policy begins July 1, and his term as VP for science policy begins July 1, 2014.

Scientists on Twitter tell the NIH what they think about sequestration

On the morning of May 7, National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins asked those in the Twitterverse to let him know how sequestration, or across-the-board federal budget cuts, is affecting biomedical research. Scientists replied in full force. Below are some examples. You can read the ASBMB Storify containing more than 100 responses at at the bottom of this page.

The tweet that started it all:

@NIHDirector: I want to hear; tell me how the #sequester is affecting your biomedical research right now. Use #NIHSequesterImpact

Many were worried about research that won't be started or completed due to spending cuts:

@DrStelling: @NIHDirector Have solid prelim data 4 new optical diagnostics- can I do follow up in my nation w/ #NIHSequesterImpact ? Or do I go to China?

@lauramariani: @NIHDirector Both our PCR machines are broken. Until we get a grant, we can't buy a new one. We are a genetics lab.

@AizenmanLab: We had to can a project to investigate a novel potential target for treating childhood epilepsy. #NIHSequesterImpact

@KBibbinsDomingo: Largest study of minority children with #asthma with groundbreaking findings drastically cut #NIHSequesterImpact @ucsfcvp @CTSIatUCSF

A lot of scientists were worried about jobs that have been lost or never begun due to sequestration:

@travischapman: I was told 3 times that despite being qualified for the job, the lab was no longer hiring due to instability in funding #NIHSequesterImpact